Wednesday, November 18, 2015

William Christopher Seaman operated a ferry across Back
Bay, Biloxi, Mississippi. Below is the original document describing
the ferry license and fee schedule. This document is taken from the Harrison
County Police Board Minutes, Book 1, p. 42 and 43.

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

The first Seaman to
arrive in America was Captain John Seaman.John was from England and arrived in America
about 1630. John Seaman and his family resided in Long Island, New York.William Christopher Seaman, my GGG
grandfather is a descendant this well established family.

So how did William Christopher Seaman come to be born in
Canada?

William C. Seaman’s grandfather was Benjamin Seaman of Long
Island, New York.During the American
Revolution, Benjamin Seaman was sympathetic to the Crown or better known as a
Loyalist. A Loyalist is someone who
sided with the British during the American Revolution.

Because of this loyalty to Britain, Benjamin’s home was
seized by the Government and by the end of the Revolutionary War he and family were
forced to relocate to Nova Scotia, Canada.Canada was under British rule and the Seaman’s were granted land where
they lived for the next 20 plus years.

It was during this time that William Christopher Seaman was
born in Nova Scotia, Canada.After his
birth, William C. Seaman,his parents
and siblings returned to New York.

Monday, September 14, 2015

As many of you know, determining Alfred Burnett’s pedigree
has been a source of frustration for a number of his descendants.To this point in time, nothing is known to
who his parents or siblings were.

Several research methods have been utilized attempting to resolve
the question of Alfred Burnett's lineage. One method is the use of historical
records, such as census records, probate records and newspaper accounts. From these types of records we can determine
Alfred was likely born in Kentucky.The
records also show the first documented evidence of our Alfred Burnett can be located
in the Jackson County, Mississippi tax rolls of 1838.However, these types of records have yielded
no clues to where or what family Alfred came from.

One more method is to rely on family oral history. These
stories, passed down from generation to generation, tell that Alfred was from
near Mammoth Cave, Kentucky. Another
story passed down from descendants has Alfred's ancestors arriving in America
as part of the Oglethorpe’s debtor colony of Georgia.Even with these oral histories, no trace of
Alfred’s family could be located.

A third method is the use of DNA evidence to help determine
Alfred Burnett’s lineage.

At this time, we have autosomal DNA samples from 16 of
Alfred Burnett’s descendants. Of the 16 donors; one is from a G-Grandchild,
eight from GG-Grandchildren, three from GGG-Grandchildren and four from
GGGG- Grandchildren. Seven of Alfred and Julia’s 10 children’s descendants
are represented in the DNA donors.

After searching through the DNA evidence, I am pleased to
report that we have a very good match to a line of Burnett’s who once resided
(and likely still do) in the Mammoth Cave area of Kentucky.

Mammoth Cave is the largest known cave system in the world
and at the time of Alfred’ birth it was located in Grayson, Warren
and Hart County, Kentucky. In 1825 Edmonson County was formed from
parts of these three counties. Today, Mammoth Cave
is primarily located in Edmonson County which is the white area on
the map below.[1]

As shown in the map below, Edmonson County is located in
southwestern Kentucky.[2]

Although I have not yet tied the two Burnett family lines together
with records, there is a very good probability we are related through a common Burnett
ancestor that lived in the late 1700’s. Once we establish how we are related to these Burnett’s,
their family lines are fairly well documented and traceable back in time. This
line of Kentucky Burnett’s can be traced to John Burnett of Virginia.

John Burnett (1610-1686) was born in Scotland is thought to
be the one of the first Burnett’s to settle in America. In 1638 King Charles I of England granted him
a merchant license trade between Scotland and Virginia.John Burnett settled in what is now Essex County,
Virginia and was a merchant and landowner.

What can be done to help tie our Burnett line with the Burnett’s
of Kentucky?It would be helpful to have
more DNA samples submitted from descendants of Alfred and Julia Burnett and the
descendants of the Kentucky Burnett’s.

We inherited half our DNA from our father and half from our
mother.As shown in the chart below, being
a GG-grandchild would mean that I share 6.25% of Alfred’s and 6.25% of Julia’s
DNA.Taking the math a step further, it
would mean I have 3.13% of the DNA of each of Alfred’s parents.

Relationship

% of Shared DNA

Parent

50

Grandparent

25

G-grandparent

12.5

GG-Grandparent

6.25

GGG-Grandparent

3.13

With this said, the
closer our relationship to Alfred Burnett the more of his DNA we share.And the more DNA we share with other Burnett descendants,
the better chance we have in making a positive genetic match.

Our line of Burnett’s preferred DNA donors would be Alfred
and Julia’s G- Grandchildren which there are only 8 known living today.Of these eight G-Grandchildren one has taken
the Ancestry DNA test.This G-Grandchild’s
DNA was our clue to matching to the Kentucky Burnett’s.

If anyone is interested in participating in the DNA project
please let me know and I will forward the information on how and where to take
the DNA tests.The autosomal DNA test
cost $99 and sometimes can be purchased on sale for $79.

Saturday, July 25, 2015

William Henry Morrogh was a
grandson of Alfred and Julia Burnett. He was one of several
grandchildren to suffer a tragic death. William was born
28-Aug-1883 and is the youngest son of John A. Morrogh and Dorinda Burnett.

William was murdered in Houston,
Texas on 11-Nov-1913, by his fiancée, a Mrs. May Belle Cox.

Apparently,
William and Mrs. Cox got into an argument and she shot him several
times with a small caliber pistol. Mrs. Cox then drove
herself to the police station and surrendered saying, “I killed
Will Morrogh; I loved him better than I do my own life, but I had to
do it.”[1]

The
account in the newspaper tells that William was divorced, though this
conflicts with the reported marital status on his death certificate.
William was first married to Mabel Freeman on 26-May-1906 in Fort
Bend County, Texas.[2]
After William’s death, Mabel did not remarry.

William is buried in an unmarked
grave near his mother in Glenwood Cemetery in Houston, TX.

Sunday, June 28, 2015

Several
of Alfred and Julia Burnett’s grandchildren suffered tragic
deaths. There was a work related fatality, an accidental
drowning and murders to name a few.
One
of the murdered grandchildren was Sherrod Burnett’s son William C. Burnett, born 18-Mar-1876.
William was murdered in Beaumont, Texas on 10-Feb-1914.

The
story goes that William, a carpenter by trade and resident of Lake
Charles, LA, was in Beaumont working with his brother in law, C.F.
Myers. He was shot and killed by Harvey F. Myers at 10 O’clock
at the intersection of College and Park Street. Harvey F.
Myers was a brother to C.F Meyers. A newspaper account of the
murder can be found below.[1]
The newspaper article does not state a motive for the
slaying. A better image of the article can be found by clicking here.

William
left behind a wife name Mattie and three children. William is
buried next to his parents in Orange Grove Cemetery in Lake Charles.

﻿﻿
﻿﻿﻿

Newspaper account of murder

William C. Burnett's Death Certificate

William C. Burnett's Tombstone, photo by Michael Burnett on 17-May-2014

Sunday, June 14, 2015

For
those interested in genetic genealogy, Ancestry has their autosomal
DNA kit on sale through 21-Jun-15. The sale price is $89, which
is $10 off the normal price. Click
here for more information. All that is needed to take the
Ancestry DNA test is a saliva sample.

Currently
we have autosomal DNA from 15 of Alfred and Julia Burnett’s
descendants. Additionally, there is autosomal DNA from
six of William C. Seaman’s descendants and eight descendants of
Ignatius Grantham and Catherine Sheffield.

The
DNA results are interesting - to say the least. I will be blogging
about them in the near future. If anyone has questions about
autosomal DNA please contact me and I will do my best to answer.

Saturday, June 13, 2015

William Christopher Seaman was married to Catherine
Sheffield.Record of the
marriage can be found in the probate court records of Wayne County,
Georgia.Wayne County is where Catherine’s
father, West Sheffield’s will was probated.The marriage record can be found in the book, “Estates 1822-1855” page
202.

The following is as
it is recorded in Wayne County.

State of
Mississippi

Jackson County

I Allen McLendon Clerk of the County Court of
said county do certify that the rites of Matrimony was duly Solemnized between
William C. Seaman and Catharine Grantham on the Second day of November in the
year of our Lord on Thousand eight hundred and twenty eight as certified to
this office by A. McLendon justice of the Peace. Given under my hand and
private Seal there being no seal of office this 11th day of January
1832.

It is possible the original letter from the Jackson County
Clerk is filed with the West Sheffield estate loose papers. Catherine was previously married to Ignatius Grantham, so at the time of her marriage to William Seaman her last name was Grantham.

The Jackson County, Mississippi court house burned in 1875
taking all of the records with it.Unless
a descendant has the original marriage license or certificate the recorded
information in Wayne County, GA is the best proof we have of the marriage.

Saturday, May 30, 2015

William Christopher Seaman, my GGG grandfather, was born in the Township of Granville, Annapolis County, Nova Scotia, Canada. The Province of Nova Scotia is located on the east coast of Canada and Granville is located in the southwestern part of Nova Scotia.

William is the son of William Seaman 07-Aug-1764 to 14-Dec-1835 and Elizabeth Brewerton Benson 11-Jan-1771 to 13-Aug-1840. William’s material grandfather was Christopher Benson, which could be the source of his middle name. William had an older brother also named William Christopher Seaman who was born in 1792 and died in 1793.[1]

There are many online sources that show William’s birth date to be 16-Jun-1796, which is possible; however none of these cite the source of this date. What we can find evidence of is William being baptized 09-Aug-1796, Middle District, Granville, Nova Scotia, Canada.[2]

By 1800 William and his family had moved to New York City, New York. Little is known about William growing in New York City and by 1818 William was residing in Jackson County, Mississippi.

Monday, May 18, 2015

William
Christopher Seaman died intestate or simply put, not having a will.There
is an extensive file concerning W.C. Seaman’s estate located in the
Chancery Court records of Harrison County, Mississippi. The
file covers a period of two years after William’s death and a lot
of interesting information can be gleaned from these records.

One
of the first documents required by the court was an appraisal of the
“goods, chattels and personal estate of William C. Seaman”.[1]
An appraisal of the estate was presented to the court on
19-March-1845. The appraisal included an inventory and a list
of people owing money to William. These assets totaled $192.87,
which is about $6,000 in today’s money. Sadly, this was not enough money to cover William's debts. Other court records document the sale of his real property to settle his debts.Listed below is a
partial list of the items appraised.

Every
effort is made to cite my sources and give credit to others that have
supplied information or photos for this blog. If you use photos
or information from this blog, including
use in your Ancestry.com family tree,
please consider giving credit to those which have furnished the
information or citing the source for the material. Most of the
credits or citations can be found in the photo captions or in the
footnotes section.

Saturday, April 25, 2015

On
Saturday, 18-Apr-2015, Magnolia Cemetery in Ragley, Louisiana held a
“Graveyard Working”, or Cemetery Cleanup Day. This day is
when family members and friends meet at the cemetery to clean and
perform maintenance to their family’s graves. It rained the
night before, so the turnout was light. Nevertheless, a few brave
souls showed up to help clean and preserve this graveyard.
Magnolia
Cemetery is in the Ragley community, which is located in the SE part
Beauregard Parish. Magnolia is an old cemetery with graves
dating back to the 1880’s or earlier. The cemetery is divided
into two sections by a chain link fence. The section on the
east side is where the oldest graves are located. Two sides of
the cemetery are bordered by tall pine trees and another side by
Magnolia Church Road and the Masonic Lodge.There
are many Burnett’s and associated families buried in this
cemetery. Two of Alfred and Julia Burnett’s children are
buried there; Sidnah and James Jefferson.
George
Gilley and Pheriba Davis Gilley are buried at Magnolia Cemetery too.
Three of George and Pheriba’s children married children of Alfred
and Julia Burnett and a fourth child married a grandchild of Alfred
and Julia. Augustus
Hodges and Alizenith Insall Hodges are also interned at Magnolia
Cemetery. Many of the Burnett’s in the Ragley area are
related to this Hodges line.During
the cemetery cleanup day, we were able to clean the graves and
headstones of James Jefferson Burnett, wife Leona, and Sidnah Burnett
Gilley. Below is a map of where James Jefferson and Sidnah’s
graves are located and some before and after photos of the cleanup.
﻿﻿﻿﻿

Sunday, April 5, 2015

William Christopher Seaman spent
much of his adult life serving in local and state government. During
this time he lived in Hancock, Jackson and Harrison County,
Mississippi. These three counties are located in the most
southern part of Mississippi and are adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico.
There is evidence that William was a lawyer, which is consistent with
the government positions he held.

Below are some of the documented
positions he held.

1822, 1824 -Justice of the Peace,
Jackson County

1827 - Representative, Jackson
County to the Mississippi Legislature

1832 - Delegate, Jackson County to
the Constitutional Convention of Mississippi

1841 - President Board of Police,
Jackson County

1842 - Clerk of Court, Harrison
County

Below are some good sources for
further researching William Christopher Seaman’s public life.

Biographical and
Historical Memoirs of Mississippi: Embracing an Authentic and
Comprehensive Account of the Chief Events in the History of the
State, and a Record of the Lives of Many of the Most Worthy and
Illustrious Families and Individuals.
Place of publication not identified: publisher not identified, 1962.
Print.

Sunday, March 22, 2015

William Christopher Seaman is my GGG grandfather and is the
father-in-law of Alfred Burnett. William was born about 1797 and is believed to
be the son of William Seaman and Elizabeth Brewerton Benson.

William was married to Catherine Sheffield, who is the
daughter of West Sheffield and Susannah Sherrod. Catherine was born in Wayne
County, Georgia on 11-Apr-1793 and is thought to be the mother of at least 6 of
his children.Catherine had been previously
married to Ignatius Grantham and they had one son, West Grantham 04-Jun-1815 to
21-Sep-1894.

There is a lot of published information concerning W.C.
Seaman’s public life, though less is known of his family life. Here are a few bits of information about his private
life.

A disposition of William C. Seaman Clerk of Courts Harrison
County, Mississippi, taken at Biloxi, April 12, 1844. “That he has been an
inhabitant of the vicinity of Biloxi since the year 1818.”

There is an affidavit in Wayne County, Georgia courthouse showing
William C. Seaman married Catherine Sheffield Grantham on 02-Nov-1828.

There are documents on file at the Harrison County,
Mississippi courthouse which show William C. Seaman to have the title of
Esquire.The title of Esquire is used by
those in the legal profession, especially lawyers.

William operated a ferry across Back Bay in Biloxi,
Mississippi.

There is a Seaman road near Biloxi which was likely named after William or one of the Seaman family members.

In October 1844, William deeded land to each of his children
and died a month later leaving no will.

William died 23-Nov-1844 and Catherine died 9 years later on
09-Sep-1853.They are buried next to
each other in the Biloxi City Cemetery in Biloxi, Mississippi.

Saturday, March 7, 2015

In
an attempt to learn more about our Burnett heritage, I and other
known Alfred Burnett descendants have taken an autosomal DNA test.

Autosomal
DNA test results, along with family tree records can be helpful in
tracing your roots to about 5 generations or to your
GGG-Grandparents. Every human has 23 pairs of chromosomes
and Autosomal DNA is found in 22 pairs of these chromosomes.
Autosomal DNA is inherited from both your father and mother. You
can read more about autosomal DNA by clicking
here.The
popularity of the autosomal DNA test has brought the cost down to
$100 per test. As well, there have been recent breakthroughs in
analysis techniques which have resulted in more accurate results.
Autosomal DNA is one of three types of DNA test used by Genetic
Genealogist to aid in confirming relationships. For more
information about genetic genealogy, click
here.
Through
autosomal DNA analysis is how I found and confirmed the Isabella
Burnett line.Below
is a descendant chart of Alfred Burnett and Julia Seaman. The green
boxes represent the known descendants who have taken the autosomal
DNA test. All of the green boxes match with a high degree of
confidence. This genetic base-line will be useful in our search
for Alfred Burnett’s parents. The test results also will be
used to help confirm who Julia Seaman’s mother was.

Saturday, February 28, 2015

I am beginning in-depth research regarding my GGG
grandfather William C. Seaman.My connection
to William Seaman is depicted in the chart below.

I have located many documents concerning W.C. Seaman and now I
am attempting to verify information concerning his birth and marriage.

1)There are online sources such as Ancestry and
Find A Grave that mention his birth date as 16-Jun-1796.The tombstone reads “About 1801” for his
birth.Some state the place of birth as Nova
Scotia, Canada and other sources cite New York. Does anyone have proof of his birth date and
location?

2)Online sources show he was married to Catherine
Sheffield on 02-Nov-1828 in Rankin County, Mississippi. Is there a marriage license or other evidence of
this date and location?

Below is William C. Seaman's signature from a letter dated 05-Apr-1832 authorizing his brother in law, Sherrod Sheffield to act as his attorney and sell land in Wayne County, Georgia which belonged to his wife Catherine.